Alternative Hummus

I was really looking forward to pita sandwiches with tuna and edamame. Much to my dismay, I was out of tuna! How does that happen? Isn't there one magical can of tuna that never leaves your cupboard? Anyway, having already cooked and shelled the edamame, I decided to make a "fake" hummus with a can of garbanzo beans, sesame oil, and loads of garlic. I also toasted up the pita bread for some quick pita chips. Doesn't look half bad, does it? Recipe follows.

Alternative Hummus

1/2 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup edamame, cooked and shelled
2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs sesame oil
3-5 tbs warm water
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
3 cloves garlic, crushed

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor, blending until smooth. Add more water as needed until the hummus has reached the desired consistency.

Quick Pita Chips

Cut pita bread into wedges. Brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes until golden and crispy.

Seasonal Cooking

I've been thinking lately about how different food is from season to season. Not only are different types of produce available, but cooking techniques also change. Baking and braising in the winter are replaced by sauteeing and grilling in the summer. I assume the rationale for this would be that one wishes to generate as little heat as possible in the kitchen during the hot days of summer, but do these seasonal cooking patterns apply to areas of the world where it is hot or cold year round?

My oven really does miss me though, and my stomach misses the plethora of baked goods that I would normally churn up in the winter. Cookies, brownies, bread... something about the cold winter months makes me want to fire up the oven and pull out my KitchenAid. Perhaps this weekend I'll make some bread. The NY Times no knead bread recipe is always satisfying, perhaps even more so because of the limited amount of work that goes into making it! I've also been craving popovers since tasting the hot, cheesy deliciousness that preceded our meal at BLT Steak a few weeks ago. I wonder if they would be as good in a muffin tin instead of a popover pan? Here's the recipe BLT Steak provided for their gruyere popovers:

BLT Steak Popovers (makes 12)

Ingredients:
4 cups milk, warmed
8 eggs
4 cups flour
1 1/2 heaping tbsp salt
2 1/4 cups grated gruyere cheese
Popover pan

Preparation:
Place the popover pan in the oven. Heat the oven and the pan to 350 degrees.
Gently warm the milk over low heat and set aside.
Whisk the eggs until frothy and slowly whisk in the milk (so as not to cook the eggs). Set the mixture aside.
Sift the flour with the salt. Slowly add this dry mixture to the wet mixture and gently combine until mostly smooth.
Once combined, remove the popover pan from the oven and spray with nonstick vegetable spray. While the batter is still slightly warm or room temperature (definitely not cool), fill each popover cup 3/4 full.
Top each popover with approximately 2 1/2 tbsp of the grated gruyere.
Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes, rotating pan half a turn after 15 minutes of baking.
Remove from the oven, remove from the pan and serve immediately.

Nicoise-Inspired Salad

The 90+ degree temperatures in DC have made me reluctant to use the stove or, God forbid, the oven that without fail causes my smoke alarm to go off every time I turn it on. I'm not a big fan of cold salads with just lettuce and raw veg, so a little stove-action is necessary. This variation of a Nicoise salad requires very little time spent standing in front of the stove, and it leaves a minimum of dishes to wash - perfect for a hot summer night when all I want to do is sit on the couch in front of the air conditioner, watching Anthony Bourdain eat exotic cuisine on the Travel Channel.

Nicoise-Inspired Salad

1 handful new potatoes
1 handful cherry tomatoes, halved
a few small radishes, thinly sliced
1 can tuna in water, drained
1-2 eggs
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper

1. Place eggs in a small pot, cover with cold water, set over med-high flame until water boils. Remove from heat and cover for 10 minutes. Remove eggs and rinse in cold water, then place in ice water for two minutes. Peel, slice into wedges, and set aside.
2. While eggs are cooking, place potatoes in a separate pot, cover with cold salted water, set over med-high flame, and boil until potatoes are easily pierced with a small knife. Remove potatoes, rinse in cold water, and place in ice water until cool. Slice in half if necessary and set aside.
3. While eggs and potatoes are cooking, whisk together lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.
4. Mix potatoes, tuna, tomatoes, and radishes with vinaigrette. Top with egg slices. Enjoy.

This is a very forgiving recipe which can be added to, subtracted from, or otherwise altered. Next time I'll try some chopped parsley and steamed green beans (in classic Nicoise salad style). Canneloni (white) beans would also be good and add some more substance. Whatever you choose, just make sure the ingredients are fresh - that makes all the difference.

Eating Well

In the past week or two, I've commented several times that the sb and I eat very well. We both love to cook and vastly prefer it to take-out (most days). It's something we can do together (aka "I can boss him around in the kitchen") and the results are usually delicious. Here's just a smattering of the dishes we've made in the past few weeks:

• Japanese-style curry with chicken and potatoes
• Whole lemon and herb roasted chicken with roasted vegetables and fresh bread
• Grilled pineapple drizzled with honey, topped with vanilla gelato and crushed pistachios
• Breaded pork tenderloin with balsamic-butter glazed potatoes
• Seared New Zealand ribeye with mashed sweet/russet potatoes and sugar snap peas
  
• Grilled spice-rubbed pork chops with zucchini, mushroom, and potato salad

Here's a simple, customizable recipe for roast chicken. Add or subtract other aromatics as desired. Additional spices such as garlic powder and paprika would be nice.

1 whole roasting hen (4 lbs), innards removed
1 lemon, zested
1 large onion, quartered
1/2-1 head garlic
handful fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, etc.), chop half
1-2 tbsp butter, softened
salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.
2. Rinse chicken inside and out with cold water, pay dry. Cut away excess fat.
3. Rub butter all over chicken. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper, lemon zest, and chopped herbs. Squeeze juice of half a lemon all over chicken.
4. Squeeze remaining half of lemon into cavity of chicken. Cut lemon into quarters and stuff into cavity along with onion, garlic cloves (unpeeled), and a bunch of herbs.
5. Tie chicken legs together with twine if desired. Place chicken, breast side up, into a roasting pan with rack. (If you don't have a rack, use a bunch of celery and carrots.)
6. Roast at 475 degrees for twenty minutes, then drop temperature to 400 degrees and cook for another 40 minutes or until done.
7. Let sit ten minutes, carve, and serve - crispy, juicy, and fall-off-the-bone tender!

Pork Casserole

Who doesn't love a casserole? It's hearty and comforting (just right for sitting in front of the TV on a winter's night); it's cleanup friendly (a one-dish meal); and you can make one with just about any conglomeration of foods from your fridge and cupboard.

Tonight, I had a few boneless pork chops sitting in the fridge, a couple leftover red potatoes (too few for mashed or roasting), and an assortment of veggies. Taking inspiration from a few online recipes, I thinly sliced the potatoes, pan-fried them briefly to help start the cooking process, then layered them in the bottom of an 8x8 baking dish. I seasoned (garlic salt and pepper) and seared the chops on both sides, laid them on top of the potatoes, then topped them with sauteed onions and mushrooms and a scattering of chopped red bell pepper. I wanted to smother all of that with cream of mushroom but, not finding any in my cupboard, I used a creamy potato/bacon soup instead, thinned with a bit of milk. A couple of handfuls of shredded cheddar finished off the dish before it went into the oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

The result? Moist, flavorful pork with a savory sauce, tender potatoes, and a delicious assortment of veggies with surprisingly still-crisp red peppers. The best part is: you can never make a one-serving casserole, which means lunch (and dinner?) tomorrow will be very tasty.

Chinese New Year

Happy Year of the Pig! The Chinese new year officially began Sunday, February 18. I was in New York City over the weekend and met up with my mom to have dinner at an auntie's house in Brooklyn. The grandfather is apparently a very good cook so we were treated to an assortment of authentic Chinese dishes such as salt-baked chicken, stewed Chinese mushrooms with abalone, and roast pork with that salty, crispy skin. The latter was Tom's favorite as he is a lover of all things pig. They didn't have one of my favorite dishes though, so my mom made it during her visit here in D.C. this week. The following is a very sketchy description of how to make it. There are no exact measures as everything is "to taste".

Braised Pork with Taro

pork belly (with skin on if desired), cubed
Chinese cooking wine
five-spice powder
soy sauce
fish sauce
cornstarch
vegetable oil
taro, peeled and cubed
beef broth or water

Mix first five ingredients, adding a bit of cornstarch and oil to coat the pork. Heat oil in a Dutch oven or large saucepan, then saute pork until browned on all sides. Add enough beef broth or water to cover the bottom of the pan, cover, and let simmer for 1.5 hours or until the pork is tender. Add cubed taro and simmer another half hour till taro is soft enough to stick a fork through. Add more broth/water as necessary. The sauce should thicken as the taro cooks until it becomes the consistency of a sticky gravy. Serve with rice!

Wild Goose Chase

Original posting date: January 7, 2007

My coworker's boyfriend is an avid hunter and was filling up their fridge with all his game, so she pressed upon me a few frozen goose breasts which I promptly stuck in my freezer and ignored for a few months. Lately, I've been talking to another coworker who also loves to hunt and he gave me some ideas for how to cook the goose. I tried his recipe tonight.

A few days preceding the cooking, I soaked the goose in water and put it in the fridge, changing the water out once or twice a day. Yesterday, I washed the goose off, patted it dry, and marinated it in a simple mix of olive oil, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper. Tonight, I washed the marinade off, patted it dry, and once again drizzled with olive oil and a bit of salt. Then I grilled it on an electric grill at high heat for about 20 minutes. About halfway through, I realized the breast was too fat so I butterflied the meat and placed both halves back onto the grill. The goose turned out to be medium to medium rare with a deep pink center. I served the goose cut into 1/2 inch strips with a mushroom garlic sauce, roasted balsamic carrots, and homemade beer biscuits (no milk, had to use beer).

As far as wild game goes, I suppose this tasted pretty good. The goose had the texture of steak but slightly chewier and very rich, with a mild liver taste. It tasted better with the sauce to mask the liver flavor (although if you are a liver fan, you probably wouldn't want to do this). The biscuits didn't rise very well and ended up tasting like large chewy oyster crackers. The carrots were probably the best part of the meal so I'm posting the recipe below. Enjoy - goose optional.

Balsamic Roasted Carrots

2 carrots per person
olive oil
salt and pepper
thyme (optional)
balsamic vinegar

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F.
2. Peel and slice the carrots on the diagonal into 1 inch sections.
3. Toss the carrots in a shallow roasting pan with a drizzle of olive oil and seasonings, minus the balsamic.
4. Roast for 30-40 minutes, stirring once or twice, until fork tender.
5. Add a splash of balsamic vinegar, mix well, and return to the oven for a few minutes.